chef’s table at common lot in milburn

T and I love to sit at the Chef’s Table. Not only do you get the great meal but you also get to interact with the team and see a bit of the preparation and extreme care that goes into crafting the meal. We hadn’t eaten at one for years, until a few weeks ago when he surprised me with a visit to Common Lot in Milburn.

T grabbed us a reservation which ended up falling a week after our anniversary. We had to do a Friday night because the restaurant was booked on Saturdays until later into August. Always a good sign! They only offer one seating for the meal, 6:30PM, and there are only four chairs available.

Common Lot uses the Chef’s Table mostly to do things they can’t produce enough of for an evening of full service – either due to quantity available or time of preparation. It showed in the variety of things we were able to experience throughout the course of the night and how personal each dish was. Keep reading to see for yourself.

A bonus about the restaurant is that it is BYOB. While we both love a good cocktail, we haven’t found a ton of restaurants around us that do them and do them well. It was a treat to finally be able to put the wine we bought at the winery we toured on our honeymoon in Cinque Terre to such a special use.

The first course was a fresh caught Bluefin tuna prepared with almond oil and paired with an elderflower granita. It was such a clean dish — nothing super fussy but the flavor stood out in a big way.

The second course was their take on one of our favorites, Mediterranean octopus. It was braised in pork oil with white rice and puffed wild rice topped by their vegan XO sauce.

Since the XO sauce has mushrooms and I’m allergic, they did an alternate version for me. The dish for me was accompanied by their homemade harissa then topped by fermented peanuts dressed with peanut and almond oil. This sauce packed a punch and was so incredible. We watched other dishes off their main menu go out with it so would love to try those the next time we go back.

The next was a chicken dish made with fresh porcini mushrooms from last year prepared in multiple ways — specifically mushrooms confited with mushroom oil, dressed with porcini powder. One of the chefs shared he and the head chef were on a run and found them growing in the woods. They went back, foraged them and boom — we had our third course.

Well, everyone else did. Mine was a different dish altogether but with equally intricate of a preparation. I had a cauliflower steak prepared in a Milanese style with fermented cabbage topped by a whiskey and seaweed sauce.

NJ trout was our fourth course. The trout was sustainably farmed and served with summer squash and crushed pumpkin seeds toasted with hazelnut. They took charred shisido peppers made into an oil that they infused with some lime juice to top off the dish. Sometimes I find trout a bit much but this was summertime perfection.

Next up was a lamb chop, prepared sous vide. It was served with a trio of whipped tahini, eggplant purée and salsa verde, with some fresh fennel to finish. I was thankful not to be pregnant especially for this course as well as for the first to be able to enjoy these flavorful dishes without requiring additional cook time!

Course six was a dry aged duck. It was essentially their take on a Peking duck. They marinate it in a 16 month stock and then smoke it over green tea and applewood. Then the meat is hung for 7-9 days before finally being roasted in the ground. So many steps of love to land at this final dish! It’s then served with Thai eggplant with mushrooms, Thai basil, pineapple purée and a duck red curry sauce. 

Mine had a slight variation and was served with a peanut coconut sauce, green snap peas, curry, Thai eggplant and a pineapple gel. So happy they were able to alter this one so I could try. Each meal here really was like a detailed food story. As the meal continued to progress, it was apparent this was going to be a meal unlike any we’ve had elsewhere.

The seventh course was our first dessert, which doubled as a palette cleanser. 
It was a Greek yogurt sorbet atop a Jersey peach jam and spiced oats. This tasted like summertime on a plate. I have had entirely too few Jersey peaches since moving to NJ, so was pleased to see them make an appearance. The yogurt was not overly sweet, making this a perfect transition course.

Our eighth course was a heavier, true dessert round — a mint basil panna cotta on top of a caramel chocolate gel. Where’d the mint come from? Why from the chef’s garden, naturally.  It was garnished with some crushed chocolate wafers and cocoa nibs.

When they found out we were celebrating our anniversary, they treated us to an extra round — which was the chef’s duck fat caramels. We were so full from all the food that had come our way before but had to try these. It was a more savory note to end on, and was a creamy decadent surprise that melted in our mouths.

What an experience. And all for $105 each. What a bargain. What an evening! Can’t wait to go back. We said we wanted to try dining in the main dining room next (it’s mostly an entirely different menu) but I don’t know. After such a personal first experience there, I might just have to make my way back to the kitchen for all my visits.

Common Lot – 27 Main Street, Milburn, NJ – 973.467.0494

Reservations required / BYOB